Friends reignited

Carlo Ancelotti must overcome former AC Milan teammate Frank Rijkaard for a place in the European Cup final

No sooner had the identity of two of the Champions League semi-finalists been confirmed last Wednesday than it became an issue of state. Milan versus Barcelona would mean Silvio Berlusconi suffering “his second defeat of the month”, according to the leader of the Catalan government, Pascual Maragall. Cheeky. As prime minister of Italy, Berlusconi is dealing with discouraging exit polls ahead of today’s Italian elections. As president of Milan, a consensus has him second favourite to Barça.

Berlusconi has been too busy to respond to Maragall. As premier of Italy, he could simply pull rank and point out that despite the spate of placards at the Nou Camp lately — they read “Catalonia is not in Spain” and Uefa have taken a dim view of them — Maragall is merely in charge of a region while he runs a country. As president of Milan, Berlusconi could just cite prestige.